Tips for plate presentation.

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Just as in art, music, dance, and literature, trends in cooking go in and out of vogue. The latest movement to sweep the world’s kitchens is molecular gastronomy, essentially the application of the scientific method to food preparation and presentation.

It is imperative to not only create a mouth-watering dish, but to produce one that looks good too. The visual presentation of your plates should stimulate the appetite; in this post I will show you food presentation with a few simple tips and tricks. Once you learn the basics you enjoy it more than cooking.

So, what is plate presentation? How do you design a plate? What are the do’s and don’ts? These are things which we will discuss here. The first step is to try to visualize the plate in your mind. What do you want it to look like? Is there a design idea you want to deliver. For me, it usually starts with the concept of lines, arcs or circles.

Here we are doing an elevated food presentation. Giving elevation brings visual dimension to the design giving it a 3-D effect. The trick is to plate the elevated item not hiding other ingredients in the plate. The typical spot to place the food is the centre of the plate.

Remove the stems of the peperoncini, halve them lengthwise, then slice them into 1/4-inch lengths.

Put the oil, garlic and peperoncini in a large deep pan set over medium-high heat, and cook until the garlic is translucent and golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the parsley to the pan, and turn off the heat.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta until it is aldente, nearly but not quite done and still a bit chalky in the middle.

Drain, and reserve 1 cup of the cooking liquid.

When the oil has cooled for a couple of minutes, add 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water, and reduce over high heat by about half.

Add the pasta, and stir vigorously as it continues to cook. Add the reserved pasta water a bit at a time as necessary to finish cooking the pasta, and develop the thickened sauce.

2) Drain out water completely and wipe with a kitchen towel.
3) Marinate prawns with salt, turmeric, Kashmir red chilli powder and pepper powder and keep aside for half an hour.
4) Insert a tooth pick (soaked in water) from the head to the tail of each prawn (This will prevent the prawns from curling during cooking).
5) Heat oil in tawa or frying pan.
6) Arrange marinated prawns and fry on a slow heat till golden colour, while turning the prawns on both sides so that the spice powders are well coated on the prawns (Adjust heat low to medium and give enough time so that both the sides are cooked).

Wash the dried prawns well under running water, rinse them 2-3 times, drain out all the excess water and let it dry thoroughly.

Dry roast prawns to a golden brown and keep it aside.

Again dry roast coconut with garlic, shallots and curry leaves till the coconut turns golden brown in color and curry leaves turn crisp. Do it in low flame otherwise coconut will not be crisp and brown. (Note: If you are using fresh or frozen coconut, make sure that it is well browned and crisp).

At the last minute of browning, add tamarind, salt, chilli powder to coconut and mix well. Allow all the things to heat up, switch of stove and mix it with roasted prawns. Let it cool and grind to a powder.

Yummy chutney powder is ready. Keep it in an air tight container at room temperature.

TADKA FLAVOURED LOTUS SEEDS

Tempering is a cooking technique used in Indian cuisine in which whole spices (and sometimes also other ingredients such as dried chillies, mustard seeds, curry leaves, minced ginger and garlic) are roasted briefly in oil or ghee to liberate essential oils from cells and thus enhance their flavours, before being poured, together with the oil, into a dish. Here we have done it with lotus seeds.

Note: Tempering is typically done at the beginning of cooking, before adding the other ingredients for a curry or similar dish, or it may be added to a dish at the end of cooking, just before serving (as with a dal, sambar or stew).

Oh wow beautiful! I love food art and always admire the beautiful food presentations I see in the food magazines. I always wanted to learn it and hey maybe now I can by reading your very interesting posts. I can’t wait to read everything you have posted so far.

Omg! How did i miss this post. The tips and step by step instructions on plating are very useful. Thanks. My daughter keeps complaining that my presentation is getting monotonous. Just yesterday i was photographing cookies and she didn’t like that i would either pile them up or lay them the regular way. Your tips will come handy☺👍

Thank you Millie, l love spending hours on this one. Colour contrasting on food is one of the most essential in food plating. My next blog is a detailed one on this. To enjoy our meal we need to trigger all our five sences😄

Same goes for this post too…my comment dint get posted..I wonder why…🙈🙈🙈
Awesome presentation…love the colours on the plate…and I still have a long way to go in terms of learning presentation skills..so pretty informative post…👍👍👍

Suzanne, comment from a great food writer like you is a real asset for me. Once if you knew the basics of plate presentation, I bet you will enjoy more in plate presentation than cooking. Your love and passion on cooking will automatically drags you in to it:)

Hi Sumith,
Thank you for the great culinary tips. I was lucky enough to visit Kerala in 2003, including Amma’s ashram, Cochin, Varkala and the backwaters. It is an incredibly lovely place. Best wishes.

Thank you Brigid. Glad to know you been to my home town. Ammas ashram is near to my Dad’s house. You would have really enjoyed the essence of kerala in Cochin, Varkala and back waters. So happy to find your blog. Take care and best wishes.

The presentation is a delight! I wish I could do things like that but, by the time I’m done cooking I’m in too much pain to do more. I usually end up practically throwing things on the plate. Perhaps I need to make presentation more a part of my overall dinner plan.